GOP candidates agree on health care

WLUK TV

Updated: Aug 7, 2012 6:30 PM

GREEN BAY — Those wanting to repeal the Affordable Care Act will not only need Republican Mitt Romney to win the presidential election, but also need a Republican to fill Democrat Herb Kohl's open seat in the U.S. Senate.

All four of Wisconsin's Republican U.S. Senate primary candidates plan to work to repeal the legislation signed into law two years ago if elected. It is one key item they each agree on despite all the mudslinging going on in the race.

"I'm the only candidate who has gathered 25,000 signatures opposing ObamaCare from the state of Wisconsin," said Republican candidate Mark Neumann.

"You've got to get rid of ObamaCare because it's going to break small business all across this country," said fellow candidate Tommy Thompson.

"Yeah, I'd vote to repeal ObamaCare as well," added Jeff Fitzgerald at a recent debate of the candidates in Bellevue.

"I do believe we need to completely repeal ObamaCare," stated candidate Eric Hovde.

The question put to the candidates is, what would they replace the Affordable Care Act with?

They all agree health care needs a more market driven approach which Fitzgerald says would drive costs down.

"We have to make this into a market driven approach. It is the only thing we have that doesn't deal with consumerism anymore. There's no transparency. Nobody knows what procedures cost," said Fitzgerald.

"We do have to break up the mini-monopolies where in every single state we have only one or two companies you can buy health insurance from. We have to have meaningful tort reform across the board. We have to put the power back into individuals’ hands," said Hovde.

The candidates believe the free market approach should allow consumers to customize their health care needs and go across state lines to get what they need at a competitive price.

"Secondly I'd like a cap in place on unintentional medical malpractice," said Neumann. "Third, if you want to fix what's wrong in medicine today we need to expand the use of health savings accounts."

Thompson agrees with the other candidates, but the former Health and Human Services director sees himself as somewhat of an expert on health care.

"Number one you've got to get into wellness and prevention. Change the dichotomy so you work to keep people healthy," said Thompson.

Republicans can offer any plan they want, but as long as the Senate remains in Democratic control, the Affordable Care Act will continue to be implemented.

While all four candidates in the Republican primary offer similar thoughts on such issues as health care and the federal budget, they each believe they have what it takes to get the job done in Washington. Wednesday on FOX 11 News at Five, we'll hear from each candidate on what makes them stand out.

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